The field of this invention relates to a seat belt assembly, and more particularly to a seat belt assembly for a vehicle such as an automobile which provides for quick and easy operation.
The present invention will be discussed in conjunction with a seat belt assembly for an automobile. However, it is to be considered to be within the scope of this invention that the seat belt assembly could be incorporated within other types of vehicles such as airplanes, trains, buses, trucks, boats, and so forth. Actually, it is envisioned that in any environment wherein a seat is utilized, and it is desired to restrain the occupant within that seat, that the structure of this invention could be utilized.
The use of seat belts within automobiles is exceedingly comon. At the present time, almost every automobile that is manufactured is manufactured with a seat belt for each seat of the automobile. Within a substantial number of jurisdictions, it is a law that each occupant of the automobile must be wearing a seat belt during operation of the vehicle. A common form of a seat belt assembly includes two separate belts, one being a lap belt and the other being a chest belt. In some installations these two separate belts are formed as one belt, but when installed in position across the passenger seat, a portion of the single belt is positioned across the occupant's lap and another portion of the belt extends across the occupant's chest.
It is of course necessary to have the seat belt assembly to be moved to a "out-of-the-way" position during entry into and egress from the vehicle. In order to provide this "out-of-the-way" stowage position, it has been common to have the entire seat belt assembly to move by a retraction mechanism to a position located rearwardly of the passenger seat.
This rearward position of the seat belt assembly has certain disadvantages. The primary disadvantage is that the occupant must reach behind the seat, find the seat belt assembly, and then move such to the installed position across the occupant's body. Although this installing procedure should be accomplished prior to operating of the vehicle, all to frequently it is accomplished while the vehicle is moving. There have been numerous occasions where the driver of the vehicle has momentarily taken his eyes off the road to install the seat belt assembly, and as a result has found himself involved in an accident which could have been avoided if the driver had had his eyes on the road.
There has long been a need to install a seat belt assembly within a vehicle wherein its stowage position is at a location which naturally makes it convenient to locate the seat belt assembly in the installed position. In other words, the seat belt assembly is located to facilitate movement of the seat belt assembly from the stowage assembly to the installed position.